Aspiriant LLC Lowers Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Aspiriant LLC decreased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 77 shares during the period. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.4% during the first quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $788,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 484 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Benin Management CORP lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.0% during the first quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 794 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Cypress Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 864 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,996 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $851,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MA. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $535.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler began coverage on Mastercard in a report on Monday, May 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $531.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Mastercard from $480.00 to $478.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $496.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 151,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.55, for a total transaction of $68,335,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 95,930,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,413,260,885.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 5,216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $446.71, for a total transaction of $2,330,039.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,782,397.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 151,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.55, for a total value of $68,335,050.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 95,930,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,413,260,885.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,025,228 shares of company stock worth $1,366,000,650. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $452.38 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $359.77 and a twelve month high of $490.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $452.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $452.78. The firm has a market cap of $420.54 billion, a PE ratio of 35.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.09. Mastercard had a return on equity of 183.70% and a net margin of 46.09%. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.99%.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.